Gabrielle Tassone Joy, Vita Rose and Nate Breiling

The educators’ innovative teaching idea, “Tiny Home Life Skills Lab,” is designed to teach special education students at East Lyme High School how to design, build, furnish and maintain a tiny home. During the project, the students will learn about every aspect of the home building process, from choosing a design, to pricing materials and constructing the physical creation of the tiny home. Working with school and town officials, they will also learn about the permitting process, how to furnish and decorate the tiny home and how to maintain the home as a life skills lab. The goals of the project are twofold: 1. to help students gain independent living skills and, 2. to enable students in STEM/tech classes to have a real-world application for practicing learned technical and trade skills outside the classroom. Ultimately, this project promotes educational equity, allowing students with IEPs to gain independent living skills that allow them to pursue an independent and meaningful life as a contributing member of society.